New Delhi [India], October 7 (ANI): The third edition of Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue will bring together more than 1,200 speakers, delegates and participants from nearly 75 countries in the national capital from October 7 to October 9 to deliberate on the future of the global maritime sector, with a focus on trade, technology, sustainability and cooperation at sea.

The three-day dialogue is being co-hosted by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), with the 2026 edition to be held under the theme 'Blue Geographies, New Aspirations: Trade, Technology, and Trust at Sea'. 

Launched in New Delhi in 2024 and subsequently held in Mumbai in 2025 as part of India Maritime Week, Sagarmanthan has emerged as an annual platform bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, scholars and multilateral organisations to discuss the blue economy, ports, shipping, maritime logistics and coastal livelihoods.

The dialogue comes amid mounting pressures on the maritime domain, as trade, energy, food and critical minerals move through waters increasingly affected by geopolitical tensions, climate stress and technological disruption, with emerging economies and small island developing states bearing a disproportionate share of the costs of such instability.

The 2026 edition will feature high-level plenaries, ministerial and leadership addresses, fireside conversations, technical sessions, ministerial engagements and studio sessions.

Ministers attending the event include Annick De Ridder, Flemish Minister of Mobility, Public Works, Ports and Sport, Belgium; Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, European Commission; Arvin Boolell, Minister of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries, Mauritius; Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Bhutan; Joao Jorge Matlombe, Minister of Transport and Logistics, Mozambique; Juras Taminskas, Minister of Transport and Communications, Lithuania; Stefanos Gkikas, Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Greece; U Tun Lu, Deputy Minister of Transport, Myanmar; and Astrid Bergml, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway.

Former heads of state and government and former ministers, including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, former Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa and former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, will also participate in the deliberations.

The Government of India will be represented by Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of State Shantanu Thakur and Secretary Vijay Kumar. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan will also participate.

The conference will centre on five thematic pillars: 'Steady Straits: Safeguarding Flows in a Fractured World' 'Blue Breakthroughs: Greening Ships and Shipbuilding' 'Complex Seas: Managing Trade, Connectivity, and Turbulence' 'Ocean Societies: Communities, Cultures, and Livelihoods' and 'The Heart of the Deal: Linking Harbour Cities to the Hinterland.'

According to a press release, the dialogue is guided by the conviction that oceans can help bridge a fractured world and that cooperation at sea can contribute to a more stable and inclusive global future.

The dialogue also aligns with India's Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, which places ports, shipping and the blue economy at the centre of the country's long-term growth.

For its third edition, Sagarmanthan has DP World as its logistics partner, along with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy and Fincantieri. The event is also being held in partnership with the governments of the Netherlands and Norway through their respective foreign ministries, with the OECD, German Maritime Museum and MENA2050 serving as knowledge partners. (ANI)